emmoworld

Despite a few hitches Peter & Kyoko got married last Saturday. Full report to follow, including how my brother and I got on with our rendition of Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones, when I have time to write it!

Today Helen & I celebrated our wedding anniversary - didn't quite go to plan - instead of being off work spent the day in meeting with banks and then got stuck on train north of Ely as lightning had crashed the signalling. So planned anniversary meal turned into beans on toast by the time I got home. Fortunately I left present and card at home in the morning so at least Helen had something to celebrate with.

One bit of news that I forgot to blog about was the outcome re Michael McDermott's record deal. No news on that but we did decide that it would be better to cancel the UK trip until a later date. Funding these trips is expensive and the only way to cover costs is through CD sales. So Greenbelt will be one artist less this year - bit of a shame but hopefully we can sort next year along with a special guest. Still got Hey Gravity! playing the festival though so will be planning a poster assault of the site - hopefully using my supply of child labour from Liverpool.

And if you need to spot me at the festival I'll be wearing the following:














It's not often I would wear a t-shirt with Everton printed on it but this is an exception, and it mentions them twice! Ideal for wearing at seminars by scouse vicars.

Well that was a glorious weekend, Saturday am spent in Norwich and pm relaxing in the Abbey grounds at Walsingham.













Sunday pm spent at the Countryside & Wildlife Centre just outside Holt where we like to just chill out, have lunch, see the red squirrels, field mice etc and soak up the sun. We have a season ticket for the centre as it's a great place to escape to and only 15-20 minutes drive away.











Early Sunday evening was perfect "sitting outside the pub" weather so I nipped down to Little Walsingham for a swift beer or two with friends, discussing the merits (or not depending on one's view) of the fencing at Glastonbury, and whether it had killed the festival. This was followed by a quick dash back home to finish cooking the Roast Lamb and trimmings. Bliss!

Back to reality today - rail issues to deal with. Also spoke to my brother - he gets married next weekend. Readers of this blog may remember he's a key part of the foreign news gathering team at the BBC - half the guest list consists of war correspondents, cameramen etc. With the Israel/Lebanon situation getting worse the guest list is dwindling as they get sent to cover the event. This includes the main photographer (who has promised he'll be back but you try getting a flight to a wedding in the UK from Lebanon right now). It's a real shame as Peter & Kyoko have put a lot of effort into the wedding preparations, especially the evening event which will have a global feel about it to reflect the different nationalities present and countries where they work.

I find the situation in Lebanon very worrying. Two parties intent on having their own way, neither likely to give in. Without outside intervention there is a real risk that this will escalate, but at the moment it is clear the US is backing Israel 100% which will make negotiations difficult for now. It may take the oil price to rise further before the economic consequences are sufficient to force the West to take appropriate action.

Living in the countryside is not for the squeamish. The air is filled with very tiny insects that seem to get everywhere. The swifts and house martins are having a big feeding frenzy and we are having to sweep the bed at night to ensure we don't have too many uninvited guests.

But being in the countryside is a nice way to relax after an intense time at work over the last few months. I'm getting used to the 3hr commute each day again and enjoy settling down at night in front of the inglenook fire.

Back in the office today having stayed over last night in London. yesterday was spent doing what I enjoy most - being wined, dined, plied with alcohol at free bar and generally having a really good time. I'd been invited to the see the women's semi's at Wimbledon and I have to say it was excellent - tennis was great to watch - I always prefer seeing it live than on TV as you get a much better idea of the amount of skill and speed involved. In between games we were treated to good food, and as much Pimms and champagne as we could drink. It was a nice guesture from work as the core bid team was there which meant all the secretaries and back office staff who spent several days doing 20hr plus shifts all got invited - I hate companies who only ever treat senior staff (as I always miss out!). The seats were excellent - debentures, not to high up and centre of the court. I enjoyed it all so much I went back to watch the mixed doubles until they ended for the night.

And now I have to try and sort out a problem up in Scotland so back to reality once more.


But before I forget - looks like all the hard work of the last year may have paid off - the elusive record deal Michael McDermott has been seeking appears to finally becoming a reality. Will mean a serious delay to new album being released which is a bit of a pain for UK visit, but without the trip to UK last year, and especially Greenbelt, somehow I don't think any of this would have happened.

Escaped to Norfolk at the weekend - hopefully for 3 months so back to the 6 hour daily commute to work and back. On the plus side the house in Norfolk is very old, and has walls VERY thick so tends to be a lot cooler in this heat (except when I mess with the Rayburn and turn on the central heating for several hours as I did yesterday!).

First thing I did back in the office today was grab one of the air conditioning units which had been used by our consultants - it now sits 2 feet away on full blast. Hoping Murray wins today and then qtr final gets delayed a day by unexpected rain as hope to be spending a day out at Wimbledon later in the week.

Plenty to do in the garden in Norfolk - mainly needs a good tidying up. Can't cut the vine as our regular visitors have nested and hate being hastled by humans. The swifts and house martins are nesting at the front as usual - probably 6 nests - they can be very noisy but watching them flying above the house, catching insects is a very relaxing way to pass time. Certainly beats watching football.